Shiro Haul - Color of the Month Catch-Up

Well, sort of.

I'm a total completionist. I want to find everything in video games. If I own some books of a certain series it drives me crazy to not own the others - even if I've read them all. The same applies to make up collections. I have charts and graphs and everything. I'm a complete nutcase and I'm not ashamed.

So when I found out you can still get some of the past Colors of the Month eyeshadows from Shiro I jumped right on it. I don't like to miss out. (Although I did miss the link to August's eyeshadow. Next time though. Shakes fists.) I'm not made up of money, however, so I only picked up some of the older ones. Of course, while online shopping, you aren't going to get away with just buying what you were planning to. That's not how real life works. So I threw a gloss on top of everything because I kept hearing great things about Shiro's custom glosses. And damn. I'm glad I did. But more on that later. Let's get to that sweet, sweet loot.

That's the stuff. I ordered six COTM eyeshadows: Butts, Yzma's Essence of Llama, What Does The Fox Say?, Doge, Bowties Are Cool, and You Snow Nothing. I chose Women's Weapons in opaque for my custom gloss. Free stuff included samples of Goron Ruby, Are You Shear You Wanna Enchant That? and candy which I gobbled up tout de suite.

In typical Shiro fashion, everything arrived in a timely manner and packaged very securely. I'm always very pleased with my orders from them.

Below, I've thrown together some swatches and mini reviews for ya'll. Each shadow is swatched over bare skin, MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly (which is my most commonly used base) and Too Faced's Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue. I apologize, I realized after the fact how inconsistent my white balance/lighting was! Live and learn, I suppose. You can't improve otherwise!

This kind of looks like vomit.

First up is Butts! This color was released in July of '13. Shiro's website describes it as "A smooth golden-yellow khaki with soft velvety shimmer."

Butts over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

This is definitely an easy everyday type of color. It applies a bit sheer without any sort of base but it isn't patchy. A base helps though Painterly seemed to change the tone a bit. Butts shines brightest over the glitter glue bringing the gold to the forefront.

DAT SPARKLE

Next up is Yzma's Essence of Llama. This was Shiro's color of the month for September '13. It's described as a "...gorgeous deep metallic plum with llama-colored shimmer."

Yzma's Essence of Llama over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

This color is very, very sheer and diluted without any sort of base. I would not recommend it's use without one. Over Painterly, it becomes a truly beautiful deep plum with a bronze overlay. It's amazing and I didn't think I'd love it quite like I did. Slap this baby over an extremely sticky base like glitter glue and the color almost completely changes. Fickle as a teenage daughter.

"OMG, SHUT UP MOM. I'M BRONZE NOW."

Do what you want, Yzma's Essence of Llama. You're beautiful to me no matter what. Seriously though, I want this all over my face at all times.

Next on the roster: What Does The Fox Say? Following the meteoric rise and fall of that viral song we all know and loathe, Shiro released this color for October '13. It's listed as a "Bright foxy orange-red with a slight metallic finish."

What Does the Fox Say? over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

Another shadow that definitely needs a base. With a base it's very true to it's original description but I feel there's little difference between Painterly and the glitter glue. It does seem a bit brighter over the glitter glue but nothing life altering.

Over Too Faced Glitter Glue.

Next is Doge! This color was one of two for November of '13. It's described as a "Perfect peachy-gold highlight."

This lighting is weird, sorry!

I will admit - I can be a complete idiot. For some reason my brain completely skipped over "highlight" in the description so I was disappointed/confused when my first swatches came out so sheer. But obviously, with a highlight, that is usually the point. And this is a very beautiful highlight! Definitely something easy to use everyday without being too in your face. Over a good, sticky base it does turn into a lovely peachy-rose color. I will certainly be doing some experimenting with various bases for Doge in the near future!

The other color released for November '13 was Bowties Are Cool. It's listed as "Dark cranberry red with tan shimmer and blue overlay."

Bowties are Cool over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

Honestly, the description didn't interest me at all. (And Dr. Who isn't really a draw for me.) I only bought this shade because, once again, I'm a completionist, and you could get a good deal buying Novembers colors in a set. I'm so glad I got it however! Over bare skin it's a bit sheer and patchy but blended out it might pass. Over the paint pot, I got this amazing cranberry color with a bluish light duochrome. But the glitter glue is the best at bringing out the depth in this color. It's such an odd combination of things which is why I like it so much.

It's so weird; I'm in love.

Last but not least! You Snow Nothing - Color of the month for December '13. It's described as "Iridescent crow's wing blue-black, kissed gently by copper fire."

You Snow Nothing over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue

So, there was no doubt that this was going to be mine sooner or later. Any thing "A Song of Ice and Fire" themed is going to grab me by my bitter, hardened heart. (I'm waiting to save up and buy the entire Seven Kingdoms collection in one fell swoop.) And this color does not disappoint. It's sheer and very patchy without a base but over Painterly, the blue iridescence starts to show and over the glitter glue we get to see those beautiful copper sparkles! It's the little things that make me love this shadow. Definitely the essence of our adorable idiot, Jon Snow.

Oolala.

Can't forget about them free samples! Goron Ruby from the Legends Collection is described as "Deep near-matte red with subtle orange sparkle." And just look at it! It swatches so beautifully!

Goron Ruby over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

There isn't too much difference between the three swatches but the glitter glue brightens it up just a bit.

Next, Are You Shear You Wanna Enchant That? from the Randomly Generated Collection is described as "Dark brown-plum with bright white and blue sparkles."

Are You Shear You Wanna Enchant That? over bare skin, Painterly & Too Faced Glitter Glue.

A bit sheer with no primer, but still performs fantastically otherwise! Glitter glue is the way to go if you're looking for sparkles galore.

I mean, just look at it.

That only leaves one more thing!

Cersei doesn't want to hear any of your shit.

The star of this little haul: Women's Weapons Custom Gloss in Opaque! This has honestly sparked on unnatural obsession within me. I need them all. But let's not lose focus. Women's Weapons, from the Seven Kingdoms Collection, is described as "Strong red wine with soft golden shimmer." This translates into a gorgeous gloss. I was expecting a bit more obvious shimmer but I'm not disappointed with how subtle it turned out to be. It's vampy as hell and opaque in one stroke. It bleeds a good bit but is otherwise very long lasting without being sticky!

Here it is first applied. Because of how bold of a color it is, precision is key! A lip brush may be the best way to work with this gloss as I find doe foot applicators to be a bit clumsy.

And here it is again a few hours later after a tuna wrap, left over ice cream cake, goldfish crackers and part of a chocolate Easter bunny! (I'm pretty much a health guru, can't you tell?) The bleeding is very obvious but the fact that it's still on my lips at all is impressive!

Over all, I'd call this haul a success! My bank account feels otherwise as I'm about to make it rain glosses all day and night in this bitch. (Rebellion in Opaque, anybody?)

xxx

Haus of Gloi Review

Or "How I'm kind of an asshole."

My sisters' birthday was a few weeks ago and that, of course, means birthday shopping. And what's birthday shopping without getting a little something for myself on the side? (It saves on shipping, come on.) Well, one of my sisters is big into body sprays, lotions, what have you and I could have run off to the nearest Bath & Body Works but I enjoy gifting people with things they'd never think to get for themselves. I've been lurking around on r/indiemakeupandmore and there I learned about Haus of Gloi. I took a meander around their website, liked what I saw and figured I'd pick up a few things for my sister and some perfume oil samples for myself. (I figured I deserved it for being such a thoughtful big sister.) I was extremely impressed with how quickly I received my order. I placed it late on a Tuesday evening and had the package in my hands by that Friday afternoon.

The contents of the box consisted of: the cutest handwritten thank you, a little Asian candy, my sister's gifts tenderly wrapped in tissue, and (my favorite) the most adorable little draw string bag full of my samples. Seriously kids, color me in love.

I've taken a while to give all of my samples a good proper testing. (I left my sister's things alone; I'm not that much of an asshole.) Before I dive in I just want you to understand that this is my first foray into the world of indie perfumes (or perfumes in general, honestly) so I'm definitely an amateur and ask that you forgive my almost complete inability to describe scents. Okay? Okay.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty of it! Inside that teeny bag was:

• Elevenses
• Honeysuckle Lemon Curd
• Satyr
• Vice
• Who Needs Love?
• Splendiferous (This was included as a free sample.)

Elevenses: Not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, it's the little sip and nibble in between... Fluffy little orange cakes, sugar coated toasty almonds and a wee steaming cup of black tea.
Oh hey, hope ya'll muthafuckas like tea. Because that's all I got from this one. Not a 'wee cup' but a bathtub full with a few little orange slices chucked in for good measure.
Granted, if you do in fact like tea then you'll love this. It's a decent enough scent. The orange in this perfume is very delicate and sweet but doesn't do much to counter the tea. I also can't find any hint of almonds. It's almost all tea.
I thought perhaps once applied something might change. The orange seemed to come out a bit but then really quickly faded away and I was back to tea. There was something a bit sweet that may have been the almonds but the entire scent was almost completely gone before noon so it's hard to say.
Suffice to say this was a no-go for me folks. If you are a tea lover than I say go for it! I wouldn't understand if you didn't!

Honeysuckle Lemon Curd: Rich lemon curd with a touch of fresh honeysuckle.
If you love lemon, then this is the scent for you. And boy, thank goodness I love lemon!
Straight from the vial the first thing that hits you is the lemons. Definitely citrus but the honeysuckle softens the tart edges a bit.
Once applied, I found the lemon almost immediately mellowed out and the honeysuckle really started to bloom. This seemed to continue to be the case throughout the day. It was still obviously lemon but ended up much softer and sweeter. At times, it did come across as a bit "lemon pledge-y" so if you hate lemons this is something you'll want to stay far away from. (Other times it smelled a bit like a lemon PEZ. I loved it.)
Staying power-wise, this scent wasn't going anywhere. I had to get in real close but it still held true all the way to bed time!
I'll probably go about getting this in the full size soon; it's an absolutely perfect fruity/sweet scent for spring!

Satyr: Absolutely fiendish creature! And quite frolicsome: Italian blood orange drizzled with a blackened vanilla.

One whiff from the vial and I was absolutely intrigued. I've never smelled anything quite like it! A tart orange scent cut into by rich dark vanilla. Imagine the sexiest orange you can and this was it.

I dabbed a bit on my wrists and immediately HATED it. It smelled like an old lady. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. But I gave in to my wretched fate and decided to smell like a musky old orange lady for the rest of the day. But the strangest thing happened. I couldn't keep my wrists away from my face. It was just too weird of a smell. And the more I took it in the more I liked it. And by the end of the day I was in love. The vanilla really comes out as the day goes on. It kind of smelled a bit like a rich adult orange creamsicle. If that makes sense.

This is another all day scent; no touch ups required!

Will I get this in the full size? Maybe. It's definitely not a scent I'd wear every day but perhaps often enough to justify it.

Vice: Steam billows rolling off a vessel of fresh made Turkish coffee, marshmallow goo tainted by graham cracker crumbs, toasted hazelnuts and blanketed in black chocolate.
I'm not a huge fan of coffee on its own but drown it in sweet things and we get along just fine.
This, this smells divine. Crack open the little sample vial and you'll swear you could eat what's inside it. (But don't.) You really catch the graham cracker. The hazelnuts and marshmallow are a bit harder to pick out but they're definitely there. And the coffee and black chocolate kind of blankets over everything.
However, once I put it on all I could really smell was the coffee. It was still a bit sweet smelling but the coffee's bitterness won out and it dried down somewhat smoky. It was interesting but hardly a winner.
Longevity-wise, it faded fairly quickly. There was a very faint graham crackery scent that lingered through the day but nothing that could hold my interest. This might fair better in my book if layered over something sweeter - but on it's own? I'll have to pass.

Who Needs Love?: A mahogany box filled with chocolaty orbs, coated in crystallized coffee - filled with a pomegranate and raspberry filling. Who needs love when you have something this decadent?

This is a part of Haus of Gloi's Valentine's collection and looks like it's currently still up on their site. It will be coming down soon however!

Chocolate seems to be the key player here when cracking into the vial. There's definitely raspberry and coffee but it's a bit difficult for me to pick out the pomegranate. (Which is fine with me; I'm not a huge fan.) On my skin, however, the chocolate really takes a back seat and almost seems to disappear all together. The scent that remained was not really what I'd been hoping for. I'm not sure if it was the raspberry or the pomegranate but something came across as a bit musky and almost rose like. I wasn't completely unpleasant but it was definitely not for me.

I won't be getting a full size but I'm willing to give it a few more test runs before passing it off as a lost cause.

Splendiferous: This particular perfume oil is from their run of upcoming Spring scents which wont be live on Haus of Gloi's site until later this month. Briefly mentioned on their Facebook page, however, it is described as "white cake, lemon zest and sugared violets."

All three notes are very clear from the start - it's so lovely! And by white cake, they MEAN white cake. This morning I felt like the prettiest wedding cake there ever was.  Applied, the lemon zest softens a bit but you still get a bit of everything. I was drooling over it. However, I could see it turning a bit powdery depending on the person as I got a whiff of clean babies every now and again.

The only truly disappointing thing about this fragrance was how short lived it was. It was gone before mid morning.

I'll definitely be getting a full size and perhaps a sample of the pumpkin butter once their spring stuff is up. I'm hoping layering the two will increase the longevity. (Ah, I might try layering it with Honeysuckle Lemon Curd! I'll let you know how it works out!)

Overall, there were some duds and a couple studs. The studs completely made it all worthwhile however! Haus of Gloi has very quickly grabbed a hold of my heart and wallet. Good goin'!

Next on my list to try are Litchi Milk Tea, Imp and Madcap Garden! Thoughts? Suggestions?

xxx